Rhetoric Outside

by Travis Rocha

One of the early requirements for the communication major is the widely-feared Introduction to Rhetoric course. Even though it’s only a 200-level class, it’s often met with a lot of kicking and screaming from students before they take it. I just finished my last class of it on Thursday and I can say that it’s definitely nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. The classroom was always full of thought-provoking discussion and the readings were very manageable.

On the last day, we all sat outside on a hot, spring day to enjoy the weather and discuss our final thoughts on the course content and how the class was structured in general. It was a very open, informal experience wherein we could speak freely with our professor. The class was pretty lecture-heavy, so it was nice to finally try a new format and relax a bit. Going in, I was definitely worried about the class. Though, it ended up being one of my most engaging courses, even though every day I sat behind a desk. It’s a perfect example of a class that pushes you mentally and proves you don’t need to always be doing group activities or puzzles to have intellectual engagement.

I’ll definitely miss going to that class every Tuesday and Thursday. My professor was insanely passionate and loved teaching the course. Everyday he’d bounce around the classroom, sharing creative examples and always ready to answer any questions someone might have. I learned so much about rhetoric, life, and education in such a short time. I can’t wait to take another rhetoric class and further my knowledge on the subject!